The Long Way Around the Truth: CCN’s Latest Political Narrative

 

The Story About Children That CCN Keeps Making About Stacey Rivera 

There is something remarkably pathetic about watching a Facebook page with more than 50,000 followers work this hard to turn a serious subject into a political grudge match.

The original post about this situation did not even come from Cowlitz County News. Failed Leadership posted about it first. CCN then picked out a screenshot from that discussion and somehow managed to build an increasingly elaborate political narrative around it.

The screenshot shows Susan Donahue saying she received a screenshot of a comment made by Stacey Rivera from a friend who had seen it on Facebook.

That is what CCN had.

One screenshot. One statement that Susan received it from a friend.

The screenshot does not say Stacey Rivera was that friend. It does not say Stacey sent it to Susan. It does not establish that the two women were friends or that they were communicating about the allegations.

Yet somehow CCN managed to turn that into a story about Stacey Rivera, political affiliations, Longview Resistance and eventually included Britney Brown into this hot mess.

It Started With Failed Leadership

That matters because CCN's presentation makes this look like some major piece of investigative reporting it uncovered.

It wasn't.

CCN picked up a discussion that was already happening and began building its own narrative around it.

There is nothing wrong with picking up someone else's story. The problem is taking a limited piece of information and stretching it far beyond what the evidence actually establishes.

That is what happened in this case.

Sexual Assault Is Not a Political Issue

Sexual assault involving children is not a Republican issue, a Democratic issue, a conservative issue or a liberal issue.

It is a human issue.

If a child was sexually assaulted, the questions should be straightforward: Who knew what? When did they know it? What were they required to do? What did they actually do? Were reports made? Were they properly investigated? Were children protected?

Those are the questions that matter.

Instead, CCN appears determined to make Stacey Rivera and, eventually, Britney Brown part of the story.

If CCN has evidence that either woman committed misconduct, concealed abuse, interfered with an investigation or otherwise played a role in the allegations, then publish the evidence.

Political associations and Facebook activity are not substitutes for evidence.

The 50,000-Follower Attention Machine

CCN certainly does not lack an audience. With more than 50,000 followers, it has a substantial platform.

That makes the repeated demands to “Please share this post” particularly telling.

The post was also pinned or featured, giving it even more visibility.

There is nothing wrong with promoting your own reporting. There is, however, something rather embarrassing about having an audience of more than 50,000 people and still behaving as though the entire story will disappear unless everyone immediately clicks SHARE.

CCN appears less interested in letting the evidence speak for itself than in keeping the outrage moving.

Stacey Rivera and the Screenshot Problem

This is where the narrative really starts to fall apart.

CCN repeatedly attempts to connect Stacey Rivera to the controversy, yet its own screenshot says Susan received Stacey's comment from a friend who had seen it on Facebook.

This does not establish that Stacey is the friend.

It does not establish a private relationship between Stacey and Susan.

It does not establish that Stacey had any involvement in the underlying allegations.

It establishes that someone sent Susan a screenshot.

That's it.

The distinction is not complicated. It just happens to be inconvenient for the narrative CCN appears to be constructing.

So Why Are Stacey and Britney Here?

This is the question CCN seems least interested in answering.

What exactly do Stacey Rivera and Britney Brown have to do with whether a child was sexually assaulted?

Were they involved in the alleged abuse? Were they responsible for reporting it? Were they administrators handling the allegations? Were they law enforcement officers?

If not, why are they being dragged into the story?

Britney's apparent offense seems to have been making a Facebook comment criticizing the tendency to turn everything into a discussion about the school board rather than focusing on children.

That somehow became enough for CCN to start connecting Britney to Stacey, Longview Resistance and the surrounding political ecosystem.

She made a Facebook comment.

Apparently CCN decided that was sufficient.

Then CCN Wants Stacey on Its Side

One of the strangest parts is CCN apparently calling on Stacey Rivera to join in demanding someone's resignation.

Think about that.

CCN spends all this time dragging Stacey's name into a controversy she was not responsible for, attempting to establish political connections that its own screenshots do not establish, and then turns around and wants Stacey to join its campaign.

A Facebook page with 50,000-plus followers is still not the political authority of Cowlitz County.

A Facebook post is not a subpoena.

A demand in a comment section is not an official directive.

If Stacey wants someone to resign, she can make that argument herself. She does not need CCN to recruit her as another name supporting its preferred narrative.

Then Joel McEntire Wanders In

Naturally, Joel McEntire eventually enters the comment section.

McEntire writes, “Looks like Longview Resistance folks are for protecting kids when it suits them.”

Here goes the political pivot.

A discussion supposedly about protecting children becomes a discussion about Longview Resistance and Terry Carlson.

McEntire could have argued that anyone who knew about abuse and failed to act should be held accountable regardless of political affiliation.

Instead, he went with the familiar political move: find the opposing faction and make the tragedy about them.

What is particularly curious is who McEntire hasn't chosen to disparage.

Given the apparent effort to connect Stacey Rivera and Britney Brown to the political narrative, one might expect McEntire to take the opportunity to attack them as well. He hasn't.

That is interesting.

Apparently some political targets are more useful than others.

Then Things Get Really Weird

Somehow, Kyron Horman Investigation New, Old, & Ignored Tips gets involved and starts taking shots at Stacey over discussions involving child predators and trafficking.

This is where the whole thing takes a particularly bizarre turn.

We started with allegations involving a child. Somehow we moved into Stacey Rivera, Britney Brown, political affiliations, Longview Resistance and campaign grievances. Then a completely separate missing-child case involving Kyron Horman gets dragged into the discussion.

There is another detail that is, at the very least, curious.

A former local politician apparently happened to wander into Kyron Horman Investigation New, Old, & Ignored Tips, and now the group appears to be among the places receiving or seeing CCN's new “breaking news” posts.

Maybe it is entirely innocent. Maybe it is simply an ordinary Facebook connection. Maybe it's because a former Longview politician appeared on their page and now they are marching in lockstep with CCN.

Still, the overlap is worth noticing.

A Kyron Horman group becomes involved in this particular local political controversy, a former local politician happens to join the group, and the group now appears to be part of the audience for CCN's latest “breaking news” material.

None of that proves coordination.

It does, however, make the repeated overlap rather curious.

At some point, “what a coincidence” becomes a phrase that starts doing a lot of work.

Also, worth noting, Terri (Horman) Vasquez is a member of this particular group. It should be noted that Stacey has thought that Terri either knows, or is behind, Kyron Horman's disappearance for at least a decade now. I find it almost too coincidental that a former Longview politican joins this group and now this group is channeling CCN vibes suddenly. 

The bigger problem is the apparent suggestion that Stacey's reactions to discussions about child predators or trafficking somehow make her suspicious.

Where is the evidence?

A person's reaction to a disturbing subject does not establish misconduct. A Facebook comment does not establish complicity. A political disagreement does not establish involvement in sexual assault.

The Kyron Horman case deserves serious discussion based on facts and credible information. It does not become relevant to Stacey simply because somebody places her name next to it.

When the Comments Become the Story

Other people then enter the discussion through comments and shares.

Stefani Reese Moore makes serious accusations about Longview Resistance, the school board and protecting pedophiles.

Apparently, Stefani, in her haste to demonize Longview Resistance, doesn't realize that Dolly would vibe more with Longview Resistance than she would CCN or people, like Stefani. But, hey, Stefani, don't let facts get in the way of your little defamatory and libelous rant!

Amanda Sims questions why CCN appears so focused on Stacey.

Scott Beck responds by accusing her of putting politics over children, and CCN agrees.

That is a convenient response considering that Scott Beck ran against Susan Donahue for the school board position and lost. 

Questioning why Stacey keeps being inserted into the story suddenly becomes evidence that someone does not care about children.

It isn't.

The people commenting, sharing and reacting are participating in the discussion. That does not make them part of the underlying allegations.

The distinction matters.

The Actual Questions Are Being Buried

If this were really about protecting children, the focus would remain on what actually happened.

Who knew?

When did they know?

What were they legally required to do?

What did they do?

Were reports made?

Were the allegations properly investigated?

Were children protected?

Those questions are far more important than whether Stacey Rivera knows someone, whether Britney Brown criticized a Facebook page, whether Joel McEntire can work Terry Carlson into a comment or whether another Facebook group has decided to weigh in.

Yet those are the things increasingly dominating the discussion.

That is the problem.

The Little Man Behind the Curtain

CCN has a large audience. Nobody is disputing that.

What is questionable is how it is choosing to use that audience.

A platform of more than 50,000 people could carefully document what happened, distinguish allegations from established facts and demand accountability based on evidence.

Instead, CCN appears to be taking a relatively thin factual thread and wrapping it around Stacey Rivera and Britney Brown, then encouraging thousands of people to share the resulting narrative.

An audience is not evidence.

Reach is not evidence.

Outrage is not evidence.

A forwarded screenshot is not proof of a secret political relationship.

The most telling part is that CCN did not even originate this story.

Failed Leadership did.

CCN picked up a screenshot from that discussion and built an increasingly elaborate political narrative around the fact that Susan Donahue said she received Stacey Rivera's comment from a friend.

That is a remarkably thin thread from which to hang a political crusade.

Sometimes the responsible thing to do with a horrific story is keep the focus where it belongs.

On the children.

On the facts.

On accountability.

Not on manufacturing political connections around two women who appear to have become useful characters in someone else's Facebook narrative.

The little man behind the curtain may have more than 50,000 people watching.

That does not make the strings any less visible.